… but what were the blood type distributions among them?
Let’s see:
Some Scythian-Sarmatian cultures may have given rise to Greek stories of Amazons. Graves of armed females have been found in southern Ukraine and Russia. David Anthony notes, “About 20% of Scythian-Sarmatian ‘warrior graves’ on the lower Don and lower Volga contained females dressed for battle as if they were men, a style that may have inspired the Greek tales about the Amazons.
The Sarmatians differed from the Scythians in their veneration of the god of fire rather than god of nature, and women’s prominent role in warfare, which possibly served as the inspiration for the Amazons.
Who were the Sarmatians?
The Sarmatians (Latin: Sarmatae, Sauromatae) were a large
Iranian confederation that existed in classical antiquity, flourishing from about the 5th century BC to the 4th century AD.
Originating in the central parts of the Eurasian Steppe, the Sarmatians were part of the wider Scythian cultures.
Oleg Trubachyov derived the name from the Indo-Aryan *sar-ma(n)t (feminine – rich in women, ruled by women), the Indo-Aryan and Indo-Iranian word *sar- (woman) and the Indo-Iranian adjective suffix -ma(n)t/wa(n)t.
According to the writings of Polyaenus,
she was the wife and co-ruler of the Sarmatian king Medosacus.
They were from the coast of the Euxine Sea.
Having observed that her husband was “totally given up to luxury”, she took over the government, acting as a judge of causes,
stationing garrisons, repulsing enemy invasions, and was such a successful leader that she became famous through all Scythia.
As a result of this fame, the people of the Tauric Chersonesus, having been harassed by a neighboring Scythian king,
requested a treaty with her. As a result of the formation of this treaty, she wrote to the Scythian prince,
requesting that he cease harassing the people. When he replied contemptuously, she marched against him with 120 strong and seasoned warriors,
and gave each warrior three horses. In one night and one day, she covered a distance of 100 stades (roughly 184.81 kilometers),
and arrived at the palace, surprising the inhabitants and killing all the guards.
As the prince was taken off guard, and perceived her force to be larger than it really was, she was able to charge and personally kill him,
as well as his friends and relatives. Thus she enabled the people of Chersonesus to regain free possession of their land.
She allowed the prince’s son to live and rule the kingdom on the condition that he not invade nearby kingdoms.
This took place towards the end of the second century, BC.
(Image source: Pinterest)
By this derivation was noted the unusual high status of women (matriarchy) from the Greek point of view and went to the invention of
Amazons (thus the Greek name for Sarmatians as Sarmatai Gynaikokratoumenoi, ruled by women).
Herodotus (Histories 4.21) in the 5th century BC placed the land of the Sarmatians east of the Tanais, beginning at the corner of the Maeotian Lake, stretching northwards for fifteen days’ journey, adjacent to the forested land of the Budinoi.
Herodotus (4.110–117) recounts that the Sauromatians arose from marriages of a group of Amazons and young Scythian men. In the story, some Amazons were captured in battle by Greeks in Pontus (northern Turkey) near the river Thermodon, and the captives were loaded into three boats. They overcame their captors while at sea, but were not able sailors. Their ships were blown north to the Maeotian Lake (the Sea of Azov) onto the shore of Scythia near the cliff region (today’s southeastern Crimea). After encountering the Scythians and learning the Scythian language, they agreed to marry Scythian men, but only on the condition that they move away and not be required to follow the customs of Scythian women. According to Herodotus, the descendants of this band settled toward the northeast beyond the Tanais (Don) river and became the Sauromatians.
Herodotus’ account explains the origins of their language as an “impure” form of Scythian. He credits the unusual social freedoms of Sauromatae women, including participation in warfare, as an inheritance from their Amazon ancestors. Later writers refer to the “woman-ruled Sarmatae“.
Again:
Archaeological evidence suggests that Scythian-Sarmatian cultures may have given rise to the Greek legends of Amazons. Graves of armed females have been found in southern Ukraine and Russia. David Anthony notes,
“About 20% of Scythian-Sarmatian “warrior graves” on the lower Don and lower Volga contained females dressed for battle as if they were men, a phenomenon that probably inspired the Greek tales about the Amazons.
Sources and additional information:
from the Srubnaya culture. A later analysis of paternal lineages, published in 2018,
found significant genetic differences between the Srubnaya and the Scythians,
suggesting that the Srubnaya and the Scythians instead traced a common origin in the Yamnaya culture, with the Scythians and related peoples such as the Sarmatians perhaps tracing their origin to the eastern Pontic-Caspian steppes and the southern Urals.
Another 2019 study also concluded that migrations must have played a part in the emergence of the Scythians as the dominant power of the Pontic steppe.
compared to around 24% of hunter-gatherers, 4% of early farmers, and about 16% of present-day Europeans.”
Thank you for reading. The quest continues: